We have filed an Emergency Petition for Enforcement with the EEOC, seeking an order directing the Postal Service to withdraw premature FADs, thus clearing the way for the Administrative Judge to review relief claims and develop the record as appropriate. If you have any updated contact information and have not yet provided it to our office, please call us at 585-272-0540 or email us at NRPClassAction@theemploymentattorneys.com . Thomas & Solomon - Employment Attorneys Rochester NY The Judge issued an order today, providing us with an extra 90 days to file submissions for our clients. My co-workers made fun of me, and told me that I would end up being sent to work for Walmart. Put another way, for all claimants who hired our law firms, we will not cease our fight on your behalf until the Postal Service provides a fair and reasonable resolution, or there is a final EEOC decision on your claim, whichever occurs first. Twelve Years a Slave: Was the Case of Solomon Northup Exceptional Additionally, Judge Roberts-Draper also scheduled a status conference with the Agency and Phase 1 Class Counsel for May 12, 2022 at 11:00 am. We greatly appreciate your patience during this process. Postal Service employees subjected to the National Reassessment Process in McConnell v. U.S. In 2006, Sandra McConnell was reviewed under the NRP in the USPS Western New York District. My Manager told me that I might be sent to work for Walmart or another company. Those reviewed under the NRP were USPS employees who had OWCP (or workers compensation, or injury compensation) claims. A contingency fee is only paid if we obtain a recovery for you. On a related issue, a few claimants have asked if they can both request a FAD and still get the advantages of this case. We will fight the USPS attempt to break apart the certified class and extinguish claims for relief one by one. * ATTORNEY ADVERTISING * The agency's health and human resources manager and Workers Compensation Office director ran an initiative, the National Reassessment Program (NRP), ostensibly designed to cut costs by eliminating non-productive 'make work' - jobs with no value to the organisation. As a reminder, the EEOC has not issued any decisions on any of the claims. All information is ordered to be produced to Judge Roberts-Draper on or before Wednesday, June 8, 2022. We keep track of our clients' contact information, and we can provide that to USPS or the EEOC Administrative Judge when they need it. There is still time for you to retain Class Counsel to represent you in your individual claim for purposes of appealing from the FADs, and in connection with future proceedings before the Administrative Judge (including developing the record as appropriate). The EEOC Administrative Judge has scheduled a video Status Conference for the attorneys and representatives on March 4, 2022. For example, if a manager told you that you had no other option than to retire, you should write out on a Continuation sheet a brief description of who said it to you and an approximate date, to the best you can. The value and strength of the lawsuit is that there are so many people who the Commission has found to have been harmed by the NRP. EEOC rules and guidelines require all parties to be willing to discuss the possibility of settlement with the EEOC Judge. This date (July 12, 2018) is well before the 30-day deadline for filing an appeal from the earliest FAD that we know about. In addition, the Judge made it clear that individual relief decisions would not be issued in the immediate future. The best way to provide this information is to email us at nrpclassaction@theemploymentattorneys.com. Here are 10 things for every claimant to know RIGHT NOW: 1. Following the EEOC Administrative Judges request, the parties each provided additional information to assist in the process to evaluate claimant relief. And please call or email us if you have questions. As a result of the Judges order, we soon should have all NRP Activity Files in connection with our firms clients. We hope that this will assist the Administrative Judge in getting all the claims in this case reviewed and decided in an efficient manner. If the EEOC orders the Postal Service to pay attorney fees related to your claim, those fees would come directly to us and not relate in any way to the 30% contingency fee payment.Of course, as the case proceeds, we are unable to predict what the final outcome will be. Our offices will be in touch with you when you need to take additional steps. Click here to see the latest news on the case. Please note that the answers to many questions can be found on this website (see below), or in the instructions letter that accompanied the Declaration form, or in the informational videos prepared by our firms (with links below). You should receive a form in the mail by March 18, 2019. Please continue to monitor the website for further updates. The only way for an individual class member to receive any monetary recovery is to submit a timely claim package. Class Counsel has asked the EEOC Administrative Judge to reconsider, or at least delay the effect of, the recently-issued Case Management Order until after the scheduled March 20, 2019 status conference. We have submitted a proposed plan to the Administrative Judge for consideration, but no order has yet been issued. 5. Now the EEOC Judge must evaluate the individual claims to determine what relief is appropriate for each claimant. Thank you. The name of the case is McConnell v. U.S. If you have not previously retained our firms to represent you with your individual claim for relief, we are not now in a position to take on your case. We emphasized that our clients have one simple goal: a just resolution for their claims of discrimination under the NRP. If you have questions that are not answered on the instructions or on this website, please call 585-272-0540. The EEOC Administrative Judge may allow the parties to conduct discovery of documents and information, and take sworn depositions related to claims. If you receive a request for information from us, please reply as soon as possible. We believe the Postal Service must be held accountable for the consequences of its discrimination. The Postal Service will submit its response to our proposed Case Management Order in approximately 15 days. (Our firms did not seek any such extension.) The Judge emphasized the very large volume of documentation submitted to her, and also indicated that limited time and assistance was available to her. During the call, we voiced the frustration of our clients as to the continuous delay tactics used by the Agency that has made this process nearly fifteen years long and not yet complete. If you have already hired our firms to represent you, we will be filing a legal brief in support of your claim. As previously reported on June 27, 2018 (see below), the Postal Service prematurely issued thousands of Final Agency Decisions in this case, thereby undermining the ability of class members to provide a full presentation in support of their claims for individual relief. Along with your completed Declaration form, you can also provide us with: a Continuation Sheet to provide additional information; Witness Statements from those close to you who witnessed the impact of the NRP on your life and health; and other records that you would like considered along with your claim. Unfortunately, the Postal Service continues to dispute every single claim. We recommend emailing such letters to us at NRPclassaction@theemploymentattorneys.com or faxing us at 585-272-0574. There has been no confirmation yet from the EEOC judge on whether Special Masters will be used to review a number of the claims. There may be better options that would work in your benefit. We are mailing Claim Declaration forms to all of the Class Members who have retained our firms to represent them in the claims process. We will take all steps necessary to provide the Judge with timely submissions for all our clients. The EEOC does not require any particular format for medical information; medical reports, print-outs, and medical notes may all be provided. Following a status conference on March 20, 2019, the EEOC Administrative Judge issued an order. Federal courts commonly use Special Masters to assist with adjudication of complex class actions. The EEOC Judge now has submissions from both sides regarding relief for all Claimants. Our offices also agreed to provide some additional information that should assist the process which was obtained from the Postal Service during the course of the litigation and should provide the EEOC Judge with much of the requested information. We have notched many milestone successes in this case since 2006. Victory in Usps Nrp Class Action: Claims for Money Awards Due Now Nevertheless, todays Order reflects the Judges strong desire to move the process forward decisively. As your attorneys, we agree with the Judges negative view of the opt-out process. Please check this website for an update after the Status Conference on March 4, 2022. We all recognize this behavior by USPS: deny, deny, dispute, delay, until a Judge orders otherwise. We continue to work with the judge to move this case forward toward a final resolution. We continue to fight for justice for all of the claimants in this case. Second, the Administrative Judge also discussed the group of individuals that the Agency has now identified as untimely. I was told that I would be sent to work for Walmart; or You may want to include specific examples of statements that were made to you on your Continuation sheet. Today, we had another video conference call with the Administrative Judge, lasting more than one hour. If you retain us and you turn down some relief that is offered as part of your claim, you would pay no contingency fee related to that rejected relief. Some 41,000 past and. We appealed this improper action by the Postal Service. Thank you for your prompt attention to this important task! U.S. The Judge has indicated generally that a reasonable extension of time will be allowed, but the Judge has not yet issued a written order. As 2022 nears its conclusion, we note that all of us had hoped for more progress in this case. U.S. Postal Service NRP Class Action - Kator, Parks, Weiser & Wright, PLLC We greatly appreciate the Judges efforts. The legal term for this situation is constructive discharge. Section 7 of the Declaration form will help you figure out if your situation is covered by constructive discharge. Here are three suggestions in connection with constructive discharge claims.First, you should read over all of the statements in Section 7 of the Declaration form, to see which statements apply to you. During the video call, the Administrative Judge asked the Agency a series of questions as to their ability to quickly access a variety of information needed in order to evaluate claimants and to produce it in an excel format for the EEOC. As the attorneys who initially filed the charge that began this action back in 2007, we understand this has been a long and frustrating road, but please know that we will continue to fight for each of our claimants. Nrpclassaction.com: Home | NRP Class Action In particular, the EEOC Administrative Judge wants to have the relevant information in a spreadsheet format that would allow the Judge to easily access the information, with a goal of moving forward with the process of claim determination. 9. Note: The complete text of Solomon Northup's Twelve Years a Slave can be found at the EDSITEment-reviewed digital archive of Documenting the American South.For further historical context, read the "Introduction to the North American Slave Narrative" from the same archive. If you have previously retained Class Counsel to represent you in your individual claim, we will specifically name you in our appeal from the FADs, and you do not need to submit a separate FAD appeal notice to the EEOC. The EEOC will review your submission and determine what categories of relief you are eligible for, and will also decide the dollar amount for your damages award (if any). Please provide our office a copy of any letters that you receive from the Postal Service as soon as possible. Please continue to monitor the website for updates. We hope you and your loved ones are safe during these difficult times. Significantly, the EEOC Administrative Judge made clear that only Thomas & Solomon LLP and Kator, Parks, Weiser & Harris PLLC, along with the Agency, will be working directly with the Judge both during the call itself and as we move forward with this process. (585) 272-0540 (tel) Update: McConnell vs USPS NRP EEOC Class Action Lawsuit Yes. These forms are very short, and most clients will be able to complete these forms in five minutes or less. It is important for the information in your Declaration to be accurate, but it is ok for you to provide approximate dates if necessary. We strongly agree with this goal, and we pledge to continue our advocacy on behalf of all the claimants that we represent. v. United States Postal Service an AJ decision certified the following class: All permanent rehabilitation employees and limited duty employees at the U.S. You should mark the boxes for every statement that applies to your situation. The law firm Thomas & Solomon, which fought the case in front of EEOC, has launched a website (link) to help impacted employees file claims, predicting USPS will fight back against every single individual. Before sending your completed forms to the Postal Service, please contact us, make a copy for your records, and then send our office a copy. So I understood that I had no option but to retire; or, I was told that I would be sent to work for Walmart; or, They indicated that I would lose my job and my retirement benefits, so I felt I had no option except to retire; or, They would not give me an assignment that fit with my medical restrictions, so I had no option but to retire; or. We will do everything in our power to reward your patience by fighting for a fair and reasonable determination of your individual claims for relief. In other words, a process starting with 50 claims can ramp up to 500 claims, and so on. If claimants appeal is heard by OFO, the Agencys decision can be upheld or the case can be remanded to an AJ in that claimants geographical area to determine damages. You should complete, sign and return the Declaration form to our offices as soon as possible. While GODADDY.COM LLC was its first registrar, . Please note that our firms (Thomas & Solomon, and Kator, Parks, Weiser & Harris) have stopped taking on new clients in this matter. Detailed instructions on completing the Declaration form are available by clicking here. The conference lasted a little over two hours. Many class members who submitted claims for individual relief have received response letters from the Postal Service. In the past few weeks, we received a very large number of calls and emails related to this case. Second, the Administrative Judge noted that review of claims has begun, and that she hopes to begin, if possible, issuing orders and decisions on claims in the coming months! For our clients, please provide your updated contact information to us. Thomas & Solomon LLP is a firm serving Rochester, NY in Workplace Harassment, Workplace Discrimination and Sexual Harassment cases. If you have retained our firms to represent you, and if you have received forms recently from USPS, please call us immediately at 585-272-0540 to discuss completing these forms. We recommend that you retain the claim form documents for your records. My Manager told me that I had no other option but to retire; or We have received many inquiries as to whether the EEOC Administrative Judge intends to utilize the assistance of special masters.During the March 4, 2022 conference with the EEOC Administrative Judge, she indicated that the special master issue is still under advisement. We understand this to mean that her in-depth questioning regarding the Postal Services access to certain information will assist her in determining the best and most efficient path forward, including as to whether special masters should be utilized. According to the notice from the EEOC, each claimant has been provided a unique log-in identifier, and each claimant is being asked to confirm their contact information within 30 days. In the meantime, we continue to collect and organize a very large amount of claim information for timely submission to the Judge. We deeply appreciate your extraordinary patience as this lengthy process moves forward. The Administrative Judge made very clear that further delays would not be well-received, and that she expects to see the completed spreadsheet by no later than November 18, 2022. For most people, the answer is no. Most people previously filled out a claim for individual relief form that included a written designation of our law firms to represent them. In a relatively short status conference this afternoon, the EEOC Administrative Judge let everyone know that the process is slowly moving forward one step at a time. We currently have no information regarding the nature of the EEOCs website or the notice, so unfortunately cannot yet provide answers to questions you may have, but we will provide a detailed update as soon as we have additional information.